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Army veteran celebrates Thanksgiving with $100,000 Powerball win

North Carolina – James Bombard of Fayetteville said he had an extra reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving after he won a $100,000 Powerball prize.

“It feels like I’m in a dream,” Bombard said. “I couldn’t be more thankful.”

The Army veteran’s good fortune happened Wednesday when he decided to go to the lottery’s website and buy a Powerball ticket. He woke up Thanksgiving morning to an email telling him he’d won.

“I thought maybe I’d won a few dollars,” Bombard said. “When I saw that I’d won $100,000, I couldn’t believe it.”

Bombard claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $70,502. He plans to use the money to get a new car and go back to school.

“I’m planning to go back to Florida and finish my bachelor’s in golf management,” Bombard said. “I was always planning to finish, but now I’ll be able to.”

The $3 ticket matched four of the five white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000. Because Bombard added the Power Play feature, the prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier was drawn. The ticket beat odds of one in 913,129.